Fated to Meet
by StormBrewers
Summary: When Haruhi lost her mother at a tender age, it was hard. Even years later, it was still hard. That was until she met a blonde haired and purple eyed boy when she was young who made it all quite okay. "Oh, I'm Rene!" he said, stretching out his hand


Disclaimer: I do not own Ouran.

I'm sorry for the Necklace latest chapter. My files were erased so I have to retype it again. Please be patient with me. For the meantime I'll distract you with this.

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"It's unfortunate that something like this should happen."

"The child is so young. She'll probably have a hard time being motherless."

"Kotoko was so accomplished. Such a waste of good talent."

"Hmm. Such a tragedy."

_Such a tragedy._

The little girl swung her little feet back and forth, looking at the brand new red shoes her mother had bought for her. _Tragedy_, she repeated in her mind. The old people had said that what was happening to them was '_such a tragedy'_. She didn't know what that meant; such a word was still foreign to her young mind. But it must have been a bad word because her mother had 'gone to some place, faraway'.

_But mommy is still here_, she wanted to argue with her dad. _She's right there. Inside that big white box._

She wanted to say that but her father had looked so sad, almost at tears. She didn't want to make him cry. Making people cry was bad.

"Haruhi." She looked up to see her father's kind face loom above her with worry.

"What are you doing here all alone? Why didn't you go to your aunt's side like I told you to?" he inquired gently and sat beside his daughter.

"But if I go, mommy would be lonely."

Ranka tensed. He didn't know what to say. How to break it to his daughter that her mother had passed away. She couldn't live like this, thinking that her mother was asleep or had left. He wasn't that cruel.

"_Ranka"_

"_Yes, dear?"_

"_If I died-"_

_A pause. Then a laugh. _

"_Why would you say such a thing?"_

"_It's bound to happen, one way or another. We just don't know who will come first," she smiled. This was like Kotoko, always so blunt. _

"_If she's old enough, tell her I love her and I'm very proud," she paused, "-and if she's too young, tell her I love her and that I'm watching her from heaven."_

_Ranka hmmed and shook his head. "I'll probably go first."_

_Kotoko smiled. "But Ranka, I have always opted for first."_

Even in the end, she managed to finish the race first.

"Haruhi, I'm going to tell you something." He stalled waiting for Haruhi to look at him. He smiled, noting how cute she looked. Her looks had always been an object of argument between him and Kotoko of which parent did she inherit it from. But looking at her like this, with big brown eyes and long brown hair, he couldn't help but agree that she took after her mother.

"What is it daddy?"

He took her little hand in his, noting how small and fragile it was.

"Do you know where your mommy is?"

She tilted her head and turned to look at the coffin.

"That's right. She's sleeping in there," he said in a whisper.

"When are we going to make her wake up," she asked, blinking at him so innocently that it broke his heart.

"We won't. She's dreaming very deeply now."

" -Daddy, what happened?"

He stopped.

"Your mommy wants to tell you that she loves you and she'll be watching from heaven."

A pause. And slowly, the little hand withdrew.

"But daddy, Arata-kun's mommy said that his puppy went to heaven too. We buried him in the ground. You were there, Arata-kun and I were crying." She looked up at Ranka, "He wasn't moving anymore. Does that mean mommy's not going to move anymore too?" her lips started to quiver, "Does that mean she'll go under the ground too? If she went there, she'd go hungry."

"Arata-kun said his puppy died. Is that what happened to mommy, did she die?"

_Did she die_

Ranka reached out for her daughter tucking her little head around his protective hands. If only he could keep her like this. Protect her like this. He wouldn't let anything hurt her. He would make sure of that.

Small sobs were heard throughout the small playground as little Haruhi cried in crouched position under the slide. They were bullying her again. Pushing her and never letting her play with them just because she was a girl.

"You think we'll let you play with us little girl? You'll only slow us down," a boy with freckles all over his face snickered at her.

" You! Take that back!" she said, eyes tearing up.

"Awww, she's going to cry. What are you going to do, tell us off?" They howled in laughter.

She started sniffing, braving it all up. "You are all mean boys!" She expected them to stop, think it over. Wasn't it enough? But why did they continue to laugh?

"Are you planning to say that to your dad? Wait, can he even be considered a dad. He wears frilly little skirts!"

"Frilly little skirts." They started chanting, encircling her like a pack of wolves, snarling.

"Stop it!" she shouted, closing her ears.

"Oooh, Satoshi don't forget about her mommy," another boy quipped, talking to the freckled boy.

"Oh I forgot your mother. Wait, you don't have one!"

"Stop it!" stooping down, she got a fistful of dust and threw it on the unsuspecting bullies, blinding them.

"Ugh! You! You'll pay for this!" She managed to hear them once more before she ran away.

"Mean, snotty, dirty boys!"

"Really? Not all of us are like that."

Haruhi jumped a little, as an unfamiliar figure knelt beside her. She started to scoot away.

"Don't be afraid. I don't bite." The little boy faced her now. She could see his face now, without the sun blinding her view. He had yellow hair and purple eyes.

"You're weird," she said noting how different he looked. Maybe the little boy was sick.

"I'm sorry, are you sick?" she said apologetically.

"Sick?" he tilted his head slightly to the side. Then something must have clicked, for his eyes sparkled with delight. "Qui!Qui!"

"You want to pee?"

The boy laughed. It made Haruhi smile,his was a very nice laugh.

"I mean no! I am not sick. I'm not from here, you see. I'm from France," he said, smiling triumphantly. She smiled back, it was probably a street she didn't know of.

Then there was silence.

"What's wrong?" the boy asked, noting her silence.

"My daddy says not to talk to strangers," she said in slight whisper. The boy looked crestfallen, but that was a few seconds ago.

"Oh, I'm Rene!" he said, stretching out his hand. Haruhi blinked at it innocently. She looked back at him with a questioning look. He smiled, shaking his outstretched arm.

"You're supposed to do it like this," he took her hand and shook it gently, "- and then you say your name, deduire?"

She stared.

"Say your name," he said, his blonde hair bobbing in excitement.

"My name is Haruhi, Rene-san," she said trying to say boy's name but it came out awkwardly.

"What a beautiful name befitting a beautiful little lady. Well since I'm no longer a stranger, shall we be friends then Haruhi-chan?" He pronounced the r like r-r-r-r.

Haruhi nodded, this Rene-boy is really nice.

"You aren't like them. Those mean boys," she said, with cheeks puffed.

"Of course not! I would never treat a girl like that," he exclaimed, dramatically pumping his hands into the heavens.

Haruhi laughed.

"Ne, Haruhi-chan you should always smile like that." He reached out and stretched her cheek into a smile. "No matter what anyone says, listen to here." He pointed at his heart, "It doesn't matter if you're a girl, or whatever they tell you to discourage you. As long as you know it's right then don't give up!"

The brunette blinked. She didn't understand half of what he said but it was probably a good thing because she felt all the bad feelings go away.

"Rene-chan you sound like an adult!"

Rene laughed and sat beside her. "My mother used to tell me that but in French. Where's your mother Haruhi?" He turned with pure excitement.

Haruhi drew her little knees towards her and mumbled, "My mommy's no longer here."

He scooted closer, "Oh where is she then? My mom's in France."

"She's in heaven."

Rene's curious expression turned into a puzzled one. "Heaven? I haven't heard-" he paused and looked at her wide eyed. Without a warning, Haruhi felt the boy lunge at him with a hug.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to!" He was starting to cry now.

"Wh-why are you crying Rene-chan?" she said, disturbed that the boy was crying for an unknown reason.

"Cause you might feel really sad, but can't cry! So I'll cry for you." He said sobbing on her shoulders.

She smiled. "You're very weird Rene-chan." She reached to her pocket and pulled out a white kerchief. Patting the crying boy on the back, she started to dry his tears. "Don't cry, Rene-chan. I'm okay."

"Really?" he said in a fitful of hiccups.

Haruhi nodded with a laugh. "Why don't you tell me about your mommy?"

"My mommy?" he asked beaming. "Okay. My mom is really beautiful! I got mostly of my looks from her but she says I act like my dad. I wouldn't know since I haven't met him."

"You haven't met your daddy?" she asked, tilting her head cutely to the side.

Rene nodded. "My mom tells me that my dad had to leave. That's all she tells me, I don't mind though cause I know that he'll come for my mom."

"Did he?" Haruhi inquired excitedly.

"No. My grandma did. She told me that in exchange for helping my mom, I'd go with her here to Japan and never see my mom again. My mom is very sick you see, and I'm too young to get any job to get her any help so I agreed."

Haruhi reached out and squeezed his hands. "It's going to be okay."

This made the boy smile. "I know."

"Young master! There you are! We must go!" Rene looked up just in time as a man gently pulled him by the hand.

"Wait Rene-chan!" Haruhi stood up and tried to stop the man from dragging her new friend away.

"It's okay Haruhi. I'll be fine," he waved at her and said, "We'll see each other again."

Haruhi couldn't do anything but wave back.

"Haruhi!"

Haruhi had little time to react before a pair of arms engulfed her in a big hug.

"Tamaki-senpai, you're suffocating me," she gasped. The said man eeped' and quickly withdrew his hands.

"I'm so sorry. It's just that I'm going to miss you!" he said crying dramatically.

Haruhi laughed, "It's not like you'll be away for long. It'll only be for five days."

"But five days without my Haruhi would feel like a week! No a month! No a year! No a-"

"Tamaki you're taking too long." Kyoya appeared behind him and dragged him away by his collar.

"Goodbye Tono! We'll take _good_ care of Haruhi," the twins, Kaoru and Hikaru appeared on both sides of Haruhi putting their arms on her shoulders with a sly smile.

"Mommy look at what those shady twins doing to our Haruhi!" Tamaki sobbed as Kyoya pushed him inside of the car.

"Don't worry, she'll be able to protect herself." Kyoya said reassuringly as he sat beside his worried friend.

"Okay. If you say so." Tamaki sighed and opened the window and waved goodbye.

"We'll see each other again!"

Haruhi smiled and waved back. "It's okay, Tamak-senpai. I'll be fine. And," she paused and watched the limo drive away and said the rest in a whisper, "I'm sure we'll see each other again."

"We always do."


End file.
